1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to frogs for turnouts of railroad tracks, particularly those for high speed railways.
2. Description of the Related Art
At the present, railroad turnouts are a set of pieces placed to divert railroad rolling stock from one set of tracks to another set of tracks. One of these elements is known as a frog.
There are several known types of frogs. A first type are solid manganese steel frogs, which are made by being cast in one piece. Another type are the bolted rigid frogs which are made of same material as the rail. Still another type are the rail-bound, manganese steel frogs which are a combination of the solid and bolted frogs.
All of these frogs have a location in them known as a half point, which is the end of the curvature to divert the rolling stock. So far as is known, between the half point and the wings of the frog, there has been a hollow or void which interrupts the normal support of the rolling stock on the rail. At this location, because of the absence of support, strong lateral impacts are produced against the frog wing, and balance in the railcars is affected also. In order to reduce these undesirable effects, the rolling stock must run through the turnouts at reduced speeds.